Gluing mast step, daggerboard trunk, and rudder parts

The mast step is epoxied and screwed in place.

March 28, 2011
Drilling holes in the hull was a scary thought but it had to be done.  I drilled six holes for the mast step and another six for the trunk.   Then from underneath, I used a countersink bit to prepare the hole for the screws.  I painted thickened epoxy on the hull and then on the mast step.  While MaryAnn held in in place, I drilled up into the sides of the mast step and put in the one and a quarter inch #8 screws.

With the trunk, we did essentially the same thing, but I also put two screws through the bulkhead 2 into the trunk to hold it in place, and then drilled the holes into the bottom of the trunk from under the boat and put in the screws.

The daggerboard trunk is finally glued in place.

To keep making progress, I also put together the four pieces of the rudder.  It's tricky getting all the pieces to stay put once they are coated with epoxy. When I was finally satisfied that I had the in the right place, I used a lot of spring clamps to hold in in place and then clamped scrap pieces of wood across the wide part of the rudder to put some extra pressure on it.

The four parts of the rudder are glued together with thickened epoxy.

Gluing support blocks for thwarts

March 27, 2011
Using thickened epoxy, I glued the blocks to the side of the hull.  To make sure they were in the right place, I sanded the side of the hull, and then drew a line around each block with the thwarts in place.  I took the thwarts off, and brushed the epoxy on both the block and the hull.  Once it was in place I held it there with tape, and double checked to make sure the thwart will still sit properly.

The blocks to support the thwarts are held in place with tape while the epoxy cures.

I also glued the pieces of both the fore and aft pieces of the supports for the sliding rowing seat. This part was a little tricky because I wasn't sure I was reading the plans correctly--this isn't in the manual and I didn't have much for instructions.  I finally took the pieces and the plans over to see Pete and see what he thought.  Fortunately, he had no problem reading the plans and I was glad I did it because I probably would have put them together wrong.

Supports for sliding seat.

After much fussing around I marked the positions for the mast step and daggerboard trunk. The manual said to make sure it was square to the center line of the boat but didn't really say how.  Finally, I stretched a string from the tip of the bow to the stern and held it in place with spring clamps.  Then, I took a piece of thread with the end weighted with an eye hook and draped it over the string near the trunk.  I also could measure along the bulkhead to find it's center.   Once I had it in position, I outlined the trunk with a pencil in order to put the screws in the right place.

Figuring out where the daggerboard trunk should go.

Cutting out stern seat and thwart blocks

March 26, 2011
I cut out and shaped the small blocks to support the thwarts, and they are now ready to be epoxied to the sides of the hull.  Once that is done, I still have the delicate task of screwing the thwarts to the blocks without going through the hull.  I also cut out the boards for the stern seat.  I was pleased that I was able to do a lot of the work with the band saw this time.  I still need to sand and shape the boards but at least I have a better picture how it will go together; I still need to put in the support block for the rear of the seat.  The manual says to put the block right under the doubler on the transom, but I wasn't sure if the boards would fit.  However, now I can see that they will fit in the space with the support block right under the doubler.

The small blocks to support the thwarts are ready for epoxy--I needed 12 of them; four for each thwart.

The stern seat boards are cut out.

Shaping the thwarts

March 21, 2011
Today is the first day of spring and we got three or four inches of wet snow--a nice day for boatbuilding. I reread the manual and realized that I didn't glue the supports for the thwarts on dory before I put on the three coats of epoxy.  In order to do that step, I needed to cut out the thwarts.  Since I had already glued the boards for the thwarts together, I thought it would be easy to cut out the slots and shape them.  This seemed like a good job for the band saw I inherited from Dad.  Unfortunately, I never learned how to adjust the saw.  I spent quite a bit of time with the manual trying to fix the blade guides, and I went through the tool box in the garage looking for a thickness gauge and allen wrenches.  I never did find the gauge, but I did find a thin metal ruler that seemed about right.   When I started using it, I had trouble with the curves and cutting along the line.  I abandoned the band saw and used the miter saw to cut the ends off.  To cut the slot I drilled a hole at the end of the slot and then used a router with a 3/8" bit.  The wood was soft enough that I could cut the whole thickness of the board in one pass.  To round off the end of the slot I used my old saber saw.  Finally, I used a router to round off all the edges.  By the time I was done, I had used every tool in the shop.  I decided I really need to figure out that band saw.  Since I spent most of the day on just the thwarts, never did get the blocks shaped or epoxied in place.

I have the basic shape of the thwarts done, but I still need to put a chamfer on the bottom edges and then sand them.

Third coat of epoxy and importance of tipping

March 14, 2011
I sanded the inside of the hull again.  I was concerned because of all the bubbles and bumps in the epoxy.  When I called CLC, I was told that I could make the epoxy smoother if I "tipped out" the epoxy with a foam brush.  This time when I put on the epoxy with the roller, I followed up with the foam brush to to smooth it out.  By brushing from the wet area to dry, it did seem to smooth things out.

Sanding down the second coat of epoxy.

The third coat of epoxy is done.

I also added another coat of epoxy on the mast step and daggerboard trunk.

Second coat of epoxy on inside of dory

March 13, 2011
I sanded the inside of the dory once again, and then put the second coat of epoxy on everything. I also glued the four pieces of the daggerboard together. I was careful to use the same size clamps and to keep the daggerboard flat to make sure I didn't glue a twist into it.

I sanded the inside of the dory to get ready for the second coat of epoxy.

The second coat of epoxy is done.

Daggerboard trunk and mast step are ready for their first coat of epoxy.

The daggerboard pieces are glued together and it's trunk has it's first coat of epoxy.

Putting epoxy on inside of dory

March 12, 2011
MaryAnn helped me flip the dory over again, and I started sanding the inside of it.  I see all the little flaws and wonder how it's going to look because I'm planning to put varnish on the inside.  Because the fiberglass in the stern wasn't quite right I decided to add another layer.  Because it will be under the rear seat, it's not going to show, but I thought it might be necessary for strength.  I also filled the screw holes in the bow where I had temporary screws to hold the rail in place.  I also added sticks on either side of the daggerboard trunk to get that ready once I get the third coat of epoxy on the dory.

I added reinforcing sticks to the bottom edge of the daggerboard trunk.

The first coat of the epoxy on the inside of the dory is done.

Adding the skeg and glueing the daggerboard trunk

March 11, 2011
For today's task, I attached the skeg to the bottom of the dory and then put in fillets on each side. The skeg is attached with bronze screws from the inside of the dory.  First, I snapped a line from the bow to the stern to get the skeg straight and then pre-drilled holes.  From the inside I used a countersink bit and pre-drilled holes into the skeg.  With MaryAnn holding it in place and using the square to keep it vertical, I put in the screws.

Putting in the fillet was a little difficult because the epoxy was thick and my fillet stick was rough.  After I put down a bead of thickened epoxy with the "pastry bag" technique, I had trouble spreading it.  It tended to come right off the dory and and stay on the fillet stick. After a lot of fussing with it I finally got it in place.  After waiting a couple hours, I used the alcohol on my gloved hand to smooth out the epoxy. 

 I also assembled the daggerboard trunk and the mast step.    On Monday, I realized that I was going to run out of epoxy.  I'm really impressed with the response time at CLC.  I called Tuesday morning to order more epoxy and it arrived Thursday morning. 

I put down a bead of "peanut butter" consistency epoxy and then screwed the skeg to the hull with bronze #8 screws.

Skeg with the fillet in place.

 

I used thickened epoxy to assemble the daggerboard trunk and also the mast step.

3rd coat of epoxy on bottom of hull

Doing some work on the dory has helped me get past the funk I'm in.  One good thing about a project like this is that it gets me up and moving and doing something.  I sanded the outside of the hull down with 220 grit sandpaper again, and put on the third coat of epoxy. I was surprised that when the second coat dried, the surface was rough and bumpy, but sanding help smooth things out.  I'm concerned that I'm going to run out of epoxy--I don't think there will be enough to do the inside of the boat. The surface is looking better and the weave of the fiberglass is almost gone.

The third coat of epoxy is done.  The weave of the fiberglass is almost all gone.

2nd coat of epoxy on bottom of hull

March 4, 2011
Because I was concerned that the first coat of epoxy was very rough, I sanded the outside of the hull with 220 grit sandpaper with the orbital sander.  Then a rolled on the second coat of epoxy.  I called CLC and was told that epoxy doesn't flatten out like varnish, and that they typically put on several coats of epoxy and then sand it with 120 grit paper.  I was also reassured that the holes made by the wires will eventually fill themselves in as I add more coats of epoxy.  I was relieved to hear that because in may places the holes were still open and I thought they would be filled in by the first coat of epoxy.  While I was on the phone I also discovered that the screws I need for the daggerboard trunk and skeg are included in the kit.  I knew I had some stews but I thought they went with other hardwired (the oarlocks, etc)

The second coat of epoxy is done.

Putting a coat of epoxy on the outside of the hull

March 2, 2011
I did some more sanding to get the outside of the hull ready for epoxy.  According to the manual, I need to put three coats of epoxy on the hull to fill in the weave of the fiberglass and to seal and protect the plywood from water.  I love how the epoxy brings out the color of the wood. (Although it also seems to emphasize any imperfections.)

Ready to put on a coat of epoxy.

Rolling epoxy over the entire bottom to fill in the fiberglass weave and seal the plywood.

Finished putting the first coat of epoxy on the bottom of the hull.

In order not to waste epoxy, I put a coat of it on the inside of the daggerboard trunk.  That way, it will be ready when it comes time to assemble the trunk and install it in the dory.  I'm still learning nautical terminology. I thought "centerboard" and "daggerboard" were the same thing but it turns out they are not, and the Northeaster Dory has a daggerboard. I'm still trying to understand the difference between them, but after looking up a description of each I find I'm no better informed at the end than I was at the beginning.  From reading forums people certainly have opinions about which is better.  The main thing I learned about daggerboards is that I need to be ready to pull it up if heading for a beach. Otherwise, I could ruin it.

Putting the first coat of epoxy on the inside of the daggerboard trunk.

Trimming fiberglass along plank two

March 1, 2011
I trimmed the fiberglass back to the bottom edge of plank 2 and removed the masking tape.  For the most part, this system worked well, but I did have a few spots where it was difficult to get the tape off.  I used the belt sander to  sand the underside of the rails, and the orbital sander to smooth out any of the drips of epoxy on the planks.  I opened up the sail box and found the centerboard trunk and the pieces for the box to secure the mast.  When I coat the hull in epoxy I also want to do these pieces

Using utility knife to trim fiberglass along plank two.

Trimming along plank two.

Fiberglass trimming completed on transom.

Trimming complete and ready for sanding.

Opened sail box to find centerboard trunk.